In 2016, Expect a Clean Air Act with Teeth

The Paris Climate Accord from December of 2015 has triggered an old provision in the Clean Air Act (the Act was passed in 1963) that keeps the United States’ air quality in line with international standards.

Now that an international agreement on air quality has been reached, the provision can come into effect.

What this means is that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) won’t have to pass any new laws to keep the US on track to meet or beat the international air pollution standards in the Climate Accord — to reduce emissions by 26-28 percent of the 2005 levels by 2025.

Expect changes in the form of “economic incentives such as fees, marketable permits, and auctions of emission rights.” That is, more than before, states should offer business incentives to cut down on air pollution and emissions.

In other words, it’s never been more economically or internationally attractive to be green.